People often ask me: "Why should I bother waiting months on a waiting list and paying double for a rat, when I can get one right now at a petstore?"

My answer?

That cute little rat you see running in the wheel at the petstore had a horrible past. It probably grew up in a rat mill with hardly any human contact. Its "breeders" could care less about genetics, and just slapped a bunch of rats together so they could sell their offspring. No rat from a petstore came from a careful, selective breeding. It will probably die very young from a number of illnesses. Not to mention it missed out on important handling at a young age and is probably terrified and nippy. You may be its first positive experience with humans. There are exceptions, however. Some petstore purchase rats from local feeder breeders who put more time into their rats. But the majority of large chain petstore will be getting their "stock" from rat mills.

The photos below are courtesy of (http://www.ratz.co.uk/rodentfarm.html)

It is very likely your petstore rat grew up in a place like this, stuck in a tiny, dirty bin until shipped off to a store. These photos of from a UK breeding mill, but any breeding facility that's only goal is to make money off of live animals is NOT going to do the right thing and care for their animals properly. They want to produce as many animals as possible and as quickly as possible to get as much money as they can. For a home rattery like me, it costs roughly $1000 a year, and I produce 5-10 litters year round and just about break even. If I relied on this to make money, of course my rats would not be getting spacious $300 cages with the best diet out there and tons of human contact. Do you think any of these rats get playtime outside of these cramped bins? Or get lots of healthy fresh food? With hundreds of rats produced, no one is keeping track of health or longevity. The pretty ones are sold to petstore, and the "ugly, plain" ones are sold as food. Yes, your petstore rat is just pretty snake food.

Below is Kiki. I had her for a little over 3 months before she was put down due to a tumor engulfing her entire back end. She was not even a year old. The first photo was taken on the 7th of September, the second taken on the 26th of December, showing just how fast the tumor took over her body. She could no longer walk, she had to drag her back end to get around. She was still very happy and would come up to me and lick my fingers. She still had so much life left to her.

How Do They Get Away With This? "An important thing to keep in mind: rats (unlike cats, dogs, or guinea pigs) are NOT protected under the Animal Welfare Act. Yes, you read that right. The same standards held to protect dogs from the conditions of puppy mills are not applied to rats or mice, meaning that legally, there's a lot more leeway to breeding rodents than any other animal. This is also why you don't hear many stories about these facilities being shut down, or heroic rescues of abused rats." (Quote taken from http://www.squidoo.com/rat-mills)

So, by purchasing your rat from Petsmart, you are supporting the rat mills. No matter how cute that little rattie is, buying it just puts money into the hands of this cruel business. So what do you do instead? Find reputable breeders in your area. A lot of breeders may even agree to meet you halfway. You can check out the facebook page "The Rattie Train" to find people who are traveling and can pick up and deliver your rat. See if anyone is giving away rats on Craigslist. Often time kids get tired of their pet and parents willingly re-home them for free on CL. Also, check out your local shelters and rescues for rats looking for a home. While they may initially have come from the petshop and may still have the potential to die early from disease, at least you can give them a happy life and not support a rat mill.